CHENNAI: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested the president of All Indian Overseas Bank Employees Union (AIOBEU) in connection with a job scam in which 950 temporary employees were recruited to Indian Overseas Bank (IOB). The CBI registered criminal cases relating to the recruitment of temporary messengers and sweepers to various branches of IOB in Tamil Nadu.
The CBI stated that the role of L Balasubramanian, Special Cadre Assistant (Retired), IOB, and president of AIOBEU was unearthed and investigation revealed that he was the kingpin behind the scam. A statement from the agency said investigations revealed that Balasubramanian introduced age and educational qualifications criteria to get a better platform for manipulation and negotiation with candidates. He also got some candidates who were his domestic helps absorbed in IOB and had directed regional union representatives to collect illegal gratification from the candidates. The CBI said vacancies were also manipulated during recruitment that was divided into phases to enable them have greater scope for demanding illegal gratification. All these designs were against the letter and spirit of the board approval of IOB. Most of the candidates so recruited were found ineligible and were subsequently terminated from service.
Balasubramanian was arrested and produced before the CBI Court on Thursday. Further, searches were conducted at 18 places throughout the State in this regard. All regional secretaries, vice-president and general secretary of AIOBEU and few officials in the IOB Head Office were arrested recently.